N.C. State researchers are relying more on non-federal funding. With decreasing budgets, the sequester and the effects of the government-shutdown, some researchers are looking to industries, state government and foundations to provide grants for their projects.
Last year the federal government provided about 77 percent of research funding at N.C. State, according to Terri Lomax, vice chancellor of the Office of Research, Innovation & Economic Development. Looking forward, however, Lomax sees a lesser dependence on Congress and the various federal agencies.
“Researchers at N.C. State have always been good at finding funding other than the federal government, and now that has become more important than ever,” Lomax said. “The sequester is hurting us right now. Also, Congress hasn’t managed to get any new appropriations bills together, and we can’t get any increases in any area if they don’t pass appropriations bills.”
Lomax said her office is dedicated on maintaining diverse streams for funding research opportunities on campus.
“The best thing we can do is have a broad and balanced portfolio,” Lomax said “If you rely too much on any one source, you’re in trouble if that source can’t keep funding. We try and make sure we have funding from all the areas.”
The Office of Research, Innovation & Economic Development doesn’t fund researchers. Instead it guides researchers to funding opportunities, according to Lomax.
“The professors are like entrepreneurs,” Lomax said. “They are all out there trying to find their own funding. My office tries to help them find those opportunities and help them go after those opportunities.”
Lomax said grants are just a small part of the overall research process but a very time-consuming part.
“Often [researchers] have to write very long, elaborate proposals and then have only, say, a 10 percent chance of winning,” Lomax said. “And as the total budget shrinks, that’s getting more difficult.”
Recently, Lomax said she has targeted federal agencies that, historically, haven’t made large contributions to N.C. State research. She also tried to strengthen industry partnerships, using Centennial Campus as a selling point for the University.
“The wonderful thing about Centennial Campus is that we have a lot of our industry partners embedded right here with us so they’re in constant contact with our professors and our students and work together to find those problems that they can work on solving,” Lomax said.
Eastman Chemical is one of the most recent companies to partner with N.C. State and will host the Eastman Innovation Center, which will serve as a hub for chemistry and materials science research. Eastman is also providing $10 million in grants to N.C. State during the next six years.
“After looking at over 200 universities, [Eastman] narrowed it down and chose N.C. State,” Lomax said. “Part of that was the excellence of our faculty, but it’s also because they could locate their research center on Centennial Campus.”
N.C. State is not alone in its quest for funding from non-federal sources. According to Inside Higher Ed, the National Research Council offered 10 suggestions last year for how research universities can remain competitive in the world.
The recommendations included calls for greater commitments from state and federal governments, better partnerships with the business community and more efficiency and innovation at institutions themselves.
“The federal government is stuck in the mud and it’s not going to get out for some time,” Hunter Rawlings III, president of the Association of American Universities, said to Inside Higher Ed.
Lomax said that at N.C. State, the answer is to strengthen ties with all organizations, including government, corporations and nonprofit groups.
“We are trying to be the easiest and best university to work with,” Lomax said. “We make sure that when we do work with industries, we involve students. The industry is also interested in being close to our students so that they can hopefully incorporate them into the future workforce.”
